28.03.09: Bye Bye Hong Kong, hello Bali. After a few modern cities, it is nice to go back to a different atmosphere. When we arrived at immigration, there was like an hour queue, as you need to apply for a rip-off visa and there were only 5 customs guards for 3 full planes arriving. When we finally got out, we could not find the place we wanted to rent our car from. We were not sure of the name anymore, the phone with the Internet connection was dead and no Internet cafe in sight. So, we had to change our plans and go with someone else. Renting car is very informal and very cheap in Bali. Our little Suzuki Kaitana is far from being new, but for 10 USD per day, it does the trick!

Leaving Denpasar was an adventure as it is like being back in India (road rules, what road rules??) and the traffic was a bit mad with scooters overtaking you on both sides! The further we got from the city, the better it got. We arrived in Ubud just an hour and half after (because we got lost!sign post is not great!) and it looks really nice with all the colourful temples on each side of the road. People have little baskets made of palm trees to put offerings and leave them in front of their home or their shops. It is common to be stopped on the road to let a funerary parade pass by with people playing music and singing and carrying the body to be cremated.

We arrived at the place we wanted to stay and unfortunately they were full, so as it was late and didn't want to carry on looking for a place, we made her understood that they did a mistake (even if they didn't) and they found us a place next door for a super cheap price . The room is really big and the place has a swimming pool. It was all worth it!!

29.03.09: We started the day by a beautiful breakfast before going to Goa Gajah, the Elephant cave. It is a cavern which was discovered in the 1920s and is believed to have been Buddhist hermitage. The craving is really nice and we are delighted to see more of the culture. We decided to trek through the jungle to reach Yeh Pulu. There again we got lost but arrived at destination.

We saw other nice temples on the way and then the cravings and paddy fields of Yeh Pulu. Later on, we went to the Monkey Forest sanctuary , a patch of forest inhabited by a troop of cheeky Balinese macaques. They are not afraid of people at all, they steal food from your bag, jump on you. They don't care, they run the place. The place is also a holy place for pilgrimage. Finally we came back to have a swim and taking it easy!!